The present invention is generally directed to apparatus for buttressing plants and other items that are not self-supporting, and is more specifically directed to a support that can conform to and accommodate differently sized items.
Historically, people have supported plants and other items not capable of supporting themselves by various different methods. For example, during the gardening season, tomato plants are often held up or staked with items such as sticks, pieces of wood, plastic rods, etc. These are often ineffective since the plants require bracing in several different areas which cannot be accommodated by using a single stick or rod. Accordingly, people often resort to using several sticks or rods and tie the plants thereto with string, creating an unsightly and relatively ineffective mass of tangled pieces. One manner by which this problem has been addressed is to use what is referred to as a cage. The cage consists of upstanding pieces of wire cylindrically held together by a series of wire hoops welded thereto. The cages are centered over the plant to be supported such that the plant grows up through the middle of the cage and is supported thereby. The cages are somewhat effective; however, a problem often occurs due to the fact that they are made in a fixed height. When a plant grows beyond the height of the cage, the aforementioned sticks and rods must be resorted to in order to support the uppermost portions of the plant. In addition, over time the cages tend to rust and become unsightly, resulting in the discarding of old cages and purchasing of new ones.
Another problem that occurs with both the use of sticks, rods and cages is that these items cannot be conformed to provide support in precisely the area at which it is needed. Moreover, once these items are positioned, they cannot be readily adjusted to address the changing height and width of the growing plant. Based on the foregoing, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a support that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a stackable support system that can be adapted to changes in plant height and width.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a support system that can be conformed to retain various different items to either prevent them from toppling or to buttress more supple objects.
The present invention is directed to a stackable support for bracing plants or other items that require additional support to maintain them in their intended orientation. The stackable support includes a primary member having a first and second end and defining a longitudinal axis. At least one retaining arm extends outwardly from the primary member and is located adjacent to the second end. Means are provided for enabling successive stackable supports to be coupled together end to end, thereby allowing a user to create a support having a desired height.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the stackable support includes a pair of retaining arms, each positioned adjacent to the second end of the primary member. In this embodiment, the arms are bendable and can be positioned to conform to any configuration best suited to brace a particular plant or other object. In addition, the ends of each of the retaining arms can be hook shaped such that the arms can be bent and the hooked ends coupled together to form a closed perimeter. Alternatively, successive supports can be hooked together to form a fence-like structure useful in supporting such things as rows of plants.
The means for coupling successive stackable supports together can take the form of a mounting rod projecting outwardly from the second end of the primary member and coaxial therewith. The mounting rod is slidably received in a bore extending from the first end of the primary member partway therethrough and coaxial with the longitudinal axis.
Preferably, the primary member defines a bore extending longitudinally therethrough with the mounting rod and retaining arms being located such that they extend partway into the bore from the second end of the mounting rod. It is also preferable that the mounting rod be formed from a deformable material such as copper, thereby allowing the retaining arms and mounting rod to be crimpingly retained in the bore. It is preferable that all of the components of the present invention be fabricated from copper.
An advantage of the above-described invention is that the supports can be stacked one on top of the other to provide for any desired height, or coupled side-by-side to form a fence-like structure for supporting rows of plants, or the like.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the retaining arms are bendable so that they can be made to conform to any desired configuration and that configuration can be altered as, for example, a plant being braced by the support grows.
Still a further advantage of the present invention is that being fabricated from copper, when used outdoors, the support will weather and oxidize, thereby taking on the aesthetically pleasing green color characteristic of copper.